Some may have thought a region championship for the Alpharetta Raiders was out of reach. After their 28-14 win over Blessed Trinity on Friday in Region 7-5A play, the Raiders, who went 3-8 in each of the last two seasons, will play the No. 2 Roswell Hornets for the league title.
“This was expected from this team,” said three-year starting quarterback Ben Guthrie, the unquestioned leader of the team. Guthrie, a senior, entered Friday as the leading passer in 6A and added another 293 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions on 24 of 30 passing.
“The goal this season was to be region champs. We’re going to have a hard week of practice, work hard, get ready for that game and get ready for the playoffs...We knew all summer that we had a bunch of players on offense, and our defense was returning a lot of seniors. This is special. I couldn’t do it without my boys.”
The Raiders, unranked, improve to 7-2, 5-0 in Region 7. The Hornets (8-1, 5-0), who will host Alpharetta, were on bye this week. Blessed Trinity fell to 6-3, 3-2 and will need to beat Lassiter next week to clinch the No. 3 seed.
The Raiders quickly jumped to a 14-0 lead, taking the game’s opening drive to the house with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by Kenyon Pipes 27-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-1. Guthrie hit Pipes on a screen, and Pipes ran down the sideline untouched for the score.
The Raiders’ drive chewed nearly five minutes of clock.
After a Titans three-and-out on their first possession, the Raiders again went on a long scoring drive. This one took 14 plays, spanned 72 yards and took six minutes, ending with a 14-yard pass from Guthrie to Ethan Barbour. That put the Raiders up 14-0 with 11:53 left in the half.
On the drive, the Raiders were 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions, including a fake punt when, on fourth-and-3 from the Titans 37, punter Henry Bunarek tucked the ball and ran it 3 yards for the first down.
The Titans would respond their next drive, using seven plays to go 65 yards, scoring on Kieran Davis’ 8-yard run with 8:13 left in the half. On the play, he appeared to be stuffed behind the line of scrimmage for a loss — the line judge had even begun marking the spot — but he kept his legs churning and eventually emerged from the pile to score. Earlier on the drive, he also barreled his way to a first down with a 6-yard gain on fourth-and-4 from the Raiders 43.
The Raiders answered their next drive, which was capped by Garrett Young’s 25-yard touchdown reception, which pushed the Raiders’ lead to 21-7 with 2:50 left, and that score would hold through halftime.
The Titans opened the first half with possession but punted after reaching the Alpharetta 42. Once again, the Raiders put together a long touchdown drive, starting from their own 2 and using 13 plays and 7:10 to move 98 yards, putting the game out of reach at 28-7 with 1:28 left in the third quarter. They scored on Guthrie’s second touchdown pass to Barbour, this from 13 yards. Three plays earlier, on fourth-and2 from the 21, Jake Gil extended the drive with a 6-yard run.
Gil led the Raiders with 89 yards on 18 carries. Guthrie’s leading receiver, Barbour, had 117 yards on seven catches, followed by Sean Wilson (six catches, 70 yards) and Pipes (6-60).
Titans receiver Cole Weaver had a team high 100 yards and a touchdown reception on three catches.
The Raiders, in their third season under Jason Kervin, are playing for their first region title since 2017.
Blessed Trinity 0 7 7 0 — 14
Alpharetta 7 14 7 7 — 28
A — Kenyon Pipes 27 pass from Ben Guthrie (Henry Bunarek kick)
A — Ethan Barbour 14 pass from Guthrie (Bunarek kick)
B — Kieran Davis 8 run (Bryson Hosea kick)
A — Garrett Young 25 pass from Guthrie (Bunarek kick)
A — Ethan Barbour 13 pass from Guthrie (Bunarek kick)
B — Cole Weaver 49 pass from Brooks Goodman (Hosea kick)
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